The Caryatids on the south porch of the Erechtheion (420 BC), Athens, Greece

I suppose I should probably say “MariaDB στην Ελλάδα” which, according to Google Translate, is Greek for “MariaDB in Greece”. We’re still finalizing the arrangements, but I’m pleased to announce that the next Monty Program-sponsored MariaDB Developer Meeting will be held in (or near) Athens, Greece. Update: See below for hotel/location information.

Monty Program tries to hold two MariaDB Developer Conferences / Monty Program company meetings each year. The most recent one was held in Portugal this past March and it’s past time for another one. Monty Program is a virtual company with employees scattered all around the world, and these meetings give us a chance to both get together with each other and to …

I arrived in Athens shortly before midnight. An unusual sight. Most of the taxi drivers in the queue are female. My driver is a middle aged woman wearing a torn leather jacket and with no understanding of English beyond numbers. She said "yes. Liberian hotel", and she adds the name of a mysterious location that I don't understand. I show her the hotel name and address, written in both Latin and Greek alphabet. "Yes. Iberian hotel. I know where." "Not Iberian - I say patiently, pointing at the hotel name on the paper - Imperial.
She says yes, and off we go.
After a minute she fishes a cell phone from her jacket, and asks something. It's a flurry of incomprehensible Greek, but the hotel name I hear very clearly "yadda yadda yadda Liberia hotel yadda yadda". I lean forward and I repeat "Not Liberia. Imperial". "yes, she says. Iberia".
I tell her to stop the taxi. I show her again the name of the hotel, "Imperial," and the place where …